A rose by another name smells sweet and mysterious.

When American rose expert Stephen Scanniello first announced he'd become a rosarian, some family members rejoiced thinking he'd taken up religion.

And in a way he had. For Mr. Scanniello – the president of the Heritage Rose Society – there are few things more sacred than a beautiful rose variety that has stood the ravages of time.

"Where I live in New Jersey is directly in line with the twin towers that were destroyed on 9-11," Mr. Scanniello recently told The Royal Gazette. "On that day I just went out in my garden and took solace there."

Mr. Scanniello gave a lecture at a Bermuda Rose Society Meeting on Thursday at the Horticultural Hall in the Botanical Gardens.

He is the author of many books on gardening including 'A Year of Roses', and 'Climbing Roses', among many others.

Bermuda's antique roses are mentioned extensively in his latest book, 'A Rose by Any Name: A flower's entanglement in love, war, politics, show business, poetry, folklore, fashion, sports, and other matters, sacred and profane'.

This book, co-written with Douglas Brenner, will be released next month.

"The Bermuda Mystery Roses are a very important collection of roses," said Mr. Scanniello shortly before the lecture. "They are in a chapter I call the 'Shipwreck Rose'."

He said Bermuda is a paradise for ancient rose varieties. In fact, Bermuda has its own rose category, 'Bermuda Mystery Rose'.

These roses are known to be hardy, and have survived centuries without intervention. They are more resistant to certain rose diseases and fungi than other rose types.

"This only applies to the roses that have been found in Bermuda that are without known names," said Mr. Scanniello.

"They have all been given names that we refer to as study names, with the possibility that someday someone may be able to assign a real name to them.

"The study name is cited with double quotes and the proper name is cited with single quotes. This has happened in a couple of cases: "Shell Rose" was found to be 'Duchesse de Brabant', "Aunt Jane's Mystery" became 'Niles Cochet'.

"This only happened after comparison via DNA or plant to plant of a proven known name.

"Within the Bermuda Mystery Roses are several classes, including tea, China, Bourbon, Noisette, hybrid perpetual, and rambler.

"I really love all the roses that grow down here in Bermuda, because they are so different and beautiful," he said. "No horticultural lost and found in the western hemisphere presents a greater interest for rose seekers than Bermuda."

He said it was because of trade routes and climate that Bermuda had come to shelter so many vintage roses.

"These are roses that have survived centuries of neglect," he said. "Rose experts have tried to identify them. In some cases they have found their true names, but in some cases they relate to the place where they were found.

"There is a wonderful rose called "Smith's Parish". It is a white china rose that has stripes of magenta in it. It is really wonderful and I have that in my garden in New Jersey."

He said "Smith's Parish" is his favourite Bermuda rose. He also loves another mystery rose called "Belfield" which was discovered in the 1950s on a property in Somerset.

"I also love "Belfield" because of the history," said Mr. Scanniello. "I am pretty sure that "Belfield" is 'Slaters Crimson China', a hybrid china rose, that was one of the original red roses that was discovered in China in the 1790s.

"If it is that rose, it is responsible for every single red rose that we grow today."

Other Bermuda mystery roses mentioned in his book include china rose "St. David's", "Brightside Cream" and "Spice" which remain conundrums to rose detectives.

"A shrub resembling "Spice" grows a few miles from Natchez, Mississippi in the historic Natchez City Cemetery. Some rose experts suspect the mystery rose is actually 'Hume's Blush Tea Scented China'. This is one of the long lost stud roses that begat our modern hybrids."

Mr. Scanniello first came to Bermuda 22 years ago to attend a World Federation of Rose Societies meeting hosted by the Bermuda Rose Society.

He said it was a cold, wet, windy day, very similar to the weather on this trip.

"That is where it all started and I have been back several times as a judge for the agricultural show, giving lectures for the Botanical Gardens and for the Bermuda Rose Society."

As part of his work with the Heritage Rose Foundation, an organisation that works to protect and promote antique rose varieties, Mr. Scanniello sometimes acts as a kind of rose Poirot.

In the rose world there are often cases of mistaken identity.

He found one such case in Sag Harbour, Long Island, New York.

"The ship The Louis Philippe ran aground there in 1840 and the crew threw all the material off the ship to float it again," said Mr. Scanniello. "So the people of the town collected everything, including the roses.

Still today, people in Sag Harbor, New York, claim they have roses in their garden that came from that shipwreck."

These roses are referred as 'Louis Philippe' roses. The China rose 'Louis Philippe' was created in 1834 and is a red rose named for the King of France.

When Mr. Scanniello heard that the Sag Harbour people were growing antique 'Louis Philippe' roses he went down to investigate. He did not find the 'Louis Philippe' but an even older pink damask rose.

"The rose that people have in their gardens is that one that was in France before 1732 called 'Celsiana'," said Mr. Scanniello.

But Mr. Scanniello said you can never be truly sure if a mystery rose is a specific rose variety.

"I just try to verify what they are," he said. "You can do a DNA parent study on a plant. Through this you can prove two roses are the same type, but it is hard to absolutely prove the identity of an unknown rose with DNA."

There are many other fascinating rose stories in his latest book, some of which should come with a PG rating.

'Rosa Mundi' was named for Rosamund Clifford whose affair with Henry II led to her supposed murder by jealous wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine.

'The Baltimore Belle' rose was named for a reformed drunkard's daughter, and the rose 'Empress Josephine' was a tribute to Napoleon's wife for whom he permitted roses to be shipped across enemy lines to furnish her extensive and eclectic garden at Malmaison.

"I totally got into roses by accident," said Mr. Scanniello. "I have a degree in biology. I ended up working in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in New York City. I was teaching inner-city children about gardening, botany and biology. I did that for three years.

"A position in the Cranford Rose Garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens became available because the man retired after 30 years. No one else wanted it so I gave it a stab and I have been hooked ever since."

Mr. Scanniello is now independent and designs roses and gardens for private, well-to-do clients. He also does volunteer work with historic sites in New Jersey and Massachusetts including working on the gardens of the Rotch-Jones-House & Gardens in New Bedford, Massachusetts. For more information about the Bermuda Rose Society contact Molly White, president at 293-2865; Essie Hans, vice president at 293-2685 or Marijke Peterich treasurer at 236-4576 or Bermuda Rose Society website www.rosesinbermuda.com.